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Monday, January 5, 2015

My Book was Nominated for Kindle Scout

I was elated when at 10 p.m. on December 29th, I received an e-mail stating that my novel, A HIGHLAND KNIGHT'S DESIRE had been selected for the Kindle Scout Program. Have you heard of Amazon's Kindle Scout? The program is still in the early stages of development, but is fast becoming a fantastic way to break through the barriers of self-publishing.

I learned about it when Amazon sent me an e-mail announcing the program. I thought about entering for a while before I actually decided to give it a try, and then I thought, why not? Most of my sales are on Amazon, and since I released my first self-pubbed book a year ago, they have given me an opportunity to earn a living through self-publishing that I never thought would be possible. Why not put myself out there and see if I can get nominated? The worst that could happen would be an unsuccessful campaign, and I could turn around and self-publish the book myself.

So how does the program work? Amazon Kindle Scout website quotes: "Kindle Scout is reader-powered publishing for new, never-before-published books. It’s a place where readers help decide if a book gets published. Selected books will be published by Kindle Press and receive 5-year renewable terms, a $1,500 advance, 50% eBook royalty rate, easy rights reversions and featured Amazon marketing."

Once you submit your book to Kindle Scout, Amazon owns the rights to it for 45 days regardless if you are nominated or not. They put up an excerpt, bio and questions for the author as well, but the author agrees not to publish the book until the 45 day period is up...unless it is selected for a publishing contract. If a contract is awarded, Amazon gains the rights to the e-book, audio book and e-foreign rights for five years. They in turn agree to promote the author's book on any and all platforms they choose. Astonishingly, the author retains the print rights. Read more about the program details here.

The Kindle Scout Program is open to the genres of Romance, Mystery & Thriller and Science Fiction/Fantasy.

During the 45 day period, the author notifies their friends and fans about the campaign and asks them to nominate their book. So, I dove in head first and asked people to help. I have to admit that I'm pretty active on social media. I posted a couple of Facebook notices and mentioned the program on Twitter a few times. I sent out an e-mail to my contacts and my newsletter followers, and posted it on my blog. I think I probably got the most nominations from Facebook--I did "boost" one of the posts, which helped (got me several new fans, too). Also, because I hold Facebook parties when I release a book, I have a pretty strong following there, and I have no doubt it helped.

Another point to remember: in the rules, Amazon makes the final decision as to whether they think a candidate's book will be a good fit for their program.

Once I was selected, I submitted my final manuscript, and it has now been approved by the Kindle Scout Team. I'm waiting for them to tell me when they plan to publish the book, after which I'll prepare the MS for print. I do have a phone call scheduled with a manager next week, because I had a few questions and they were kind enough to schedule a call.

Bottom line, I don't know where this will lead in the future, but having Amazon's muscle behind a new release can only help. I'm glad I bucked up and took the challenge!

Grieving from the death of his wife, Lord Colin Campbell
listens to the cries of his newborn son whilst penning a missive to the king.
With no marriage prospects, Colin petitions his majesty for help in finding a
stepmother. Never again will he fall in love—the death of a woman brings more
pain than losing a whole contingent of men on the battlefield.

Feisty, quick tongued and smart, Margaret Robinson is
delighted when her father receives a messenger from the king…until she
discovers what news he brings. In a sennight, she will wed the notorious Black
Knight—her life is about to end.

Tension builds during the wedding and deteriorates from
there…until an accident draws them together. Just when their love begins to blossom,
a dire request arrives from the Pope. Colin must join the Crusades at once.

Their fragile love is forced to withstand the seductions of
hell—Margaret tempted by a scoundrel laird—Colin courted by Satan himself. Aye,
the war for Christendom could very well ruin their dreams forever.

Thanks for the run-down on the program. It sounds like a super great opportunity! And keeping print rights is pretty neat. One thing I'm curious about, is do they keep the same cover you submitted, or do they do own of their own? And congrats again, super excited for you!!

How exciting! I didn't know anything about the Kindle Scout program, so this was a very informative post! It sounds like a wonderful opportunity. Awesome that you get to keep the same cover. Congratulations!~Jess

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